Thursday, December 11, 2008

Time to Practice What I Preach

Dear blog friends,

This past week I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Today we were told that the tumor is in the worst possible place it could be. It is behind my left eye and if they go in to take it out it will almost certainly cause blindness. For the same reason, they also can't do a biopsy. Because it can't be biopsied, we don't know if it is benign or malignant, but either way it has to come out because it is growing and eventually that will cause blindness.

Tomorrow I will be going through more tests and meeting with more doctors. There are four options and at this point none of them is good. Please pray for me. I trust with all my heart in my Heavenly Father. I know He is with me and that He will guide me. I also know that the prayers of many bring about miracles. I'm counting on one of those miracles. I love you all.

11 comments:

I'm so very sorry! You will definitely be in my prayers. I love you and I hardly know you. You have brought so much joy and hope into the lives of others. I hope we can all be a similar support to you.

Sister Johnson -In so many ways you have been a second mother to my daughter and have been a positive example of what a righteous and intellectual woman in the church can do with the many seasons of her life. I am saddened to hear of your tumor, and will include you and your family in my prayers.

Here is a thought for you which I gleaned from last week's reading for Sunday School in Ether 3:3 - 5. In this chapter, the brother of Jared is petitioning the Lord to help him with a problem of crossing the ocean without any light. Because of some personal trials I have had in the last few years, this sentence spoke out to me in particular:"O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness..... therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness ... that we may have light while we cross the sea."I realized that there are times that we all have a "raging deep" to cross, and that while the Lord may not take the "raging deep" away from us, he can and will provide us light to make it more bearable for us because he knows that crossing this trial will bring us to a better place in our lives, often known as "the promised land."

I watched my mother struggle with a rare form of ovarian cancer which we knew had almost non-existent survival rates for a year and a half before it took her. I also watched a woman who was implicitly trusting in the Lord, a woman of profound and simple faith, grow even closer to the Lord and her family through this trial. Towards the end, I saw a woman who was truly prepared to meet the Savior and be taken into his arms with approval of all she had done with her life.

I sincerely pray that the Lord will provide you not only light in this journey, but a positive outcome, so that you can continue to be an influence on my daughter and my future grandchildren as well. I love you for all the example that you have provided to her and others in your college classes.

Life is full of surprises! You spoke in our ward on Sunday about how serving and loving through visiting teaching is something we need to experience in order to be like God; physical challenge is just another thing we need to experience here, isn't it? Thank you for coming to our ward; we didn't realize what sadness, pain, and worry you must have been going through Sunday. Your messages are like gold to me. You spoke of faith and hope, which add warmth to our hearts as we face wintry times. We all love you more than we can say and will be praying diligently for you.

I just met you for the first time on Sunday when you spoke in our ward. You did such a beautiful job! I went home and told my husband about the thoughts you shared. I'm really sorry about the news you shared on your blog. I will definitely pray for you!

Mormon 9:15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do ano miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

Mormon 9:19 And if there were amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

Dear Sister Johnson,I wish I could give you a hug right now. My family and I are praying for you. I appreciate all you have done for our daughter Amy. You are a wonderful example and I love you for your positive, righteous example. I pray you will feel our prayers and the prayers of many and the powers of heaven will be drawn down the bless your life.